The Writers Voice
The World's
Favourite Literary Website
The Many Facets of Time
by
Mike Peak
Chapter 1:
It Starts With Confusion
It was the Eve of the year 2000 and Robert, Mike, Alan, Matt, David, and Peanut were all playing Golden Eye on Mike's N64 at Matt's house. After many wins and losses they all decide to start filtering off to their sleeping spot. As they are making their way towards sleep Mike and Robert began a conversation. And to no ones' knowing a mysterious crimson mist began filtering in over the valley at precisely 12:00:01 A.M. January 1, 2000.
"How cool would it be to go to the time when there was magic and dragons and stuff," said Mike.
"Yeah I would be a fighter and have all these muscles and powerful weapons and armor," replied Robert.
"I would like to be some sort of mage with very strong spells and stuff."
"Well none of that will ever happen so don't get your hopes up about blowing people to bits and I won't get
my hopes up for tearing a person limb from limb."
"That's just the way it goes I guess."
"Yeah."
Then they fell asleep and woke up talking to each other again, but this time they were somewhere else.
"Wake up damn it!"
It was Robert talking but the man that was in front of him did not look like Robert at all.
"Wake up I said!"
"I am, what's going on?"
"You were hit on the head by a club from one of them."
The man pointed over and there was a pile of big, ugly monsters. They looked like something out of a dream, a nightmare. They were ogres. But that can't be, ogres do not exist, what is this place?
"You better clean yourself up because there are more of them coming and I need your magic to help me through this."
Magic? What magic? I am not a magician, so how can I possibly use or even have magic?
"Hurry!"
"I am, but I don't understand, what do you mean that you need my magic?"
"You're a sorcerer aren't you?"
"No."
"What the hell are you talking about, look at yourself? You have all the accessories: rings, amulets, and whatever else you are hiding."
He looked down at his hands and they are were and more weather-beaten than before. How can this be? There are rings on my fingers and amulets around my neck. But what do they mean? I don't feel any magic, so how can I cast spells? Why are there robes about my body with strange symbols all over them.
"Come on!"
"How?"
"How what?"
"How do I use my magic?"
"I don't know, use that book of yours' I'm sure that what you'll need is in there. What happened anyway? One minute you were making those beasts explode and now you have no memory what-so-ever."
"I don't know what happened, I can't explain it, I was talking to my friend then I find myself here."
"Uh…Ok well I think that you were clubbed in the head too hard because I saw you pulverizing those ogres, so don't tell me what you weren't doing."
"Well if you're going to be that way then I won't tell you about the ogre that
is going to hit you in the head."
As the man turned around the club hit him square in the face. He was down in
less than a second. Then out of nowhere a bolt of lightning screamed into the
ogre's head and he was down in less than a second as well.
"Rhothgar, are you alright?"
This new guy sounded like Matt but like the other guy he looked very different.
"Yeah I'm fine, my head just hurts a little."
"That's good."
"Okay who are you and who is he? I apparently have no memory of you two."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"All right but I don't understand why. My name is Orion, that heap over there is Rockade. Sound familiar yet?"
"No."
"Well I saw you get hit in the head and it did look pretty bad but I did not think you would lose your memory."
"Well it seems as though I did."
"Seems that way."
"I still don't understand what Rockade meant about me having magic."
"Damn you really are clueless. You are a sorcerer and you use magic. What is so hard to understand about that?"
"But I don't know how to use it."
"Well then I will have to show you later because I will have to get rid of that problem we have outside so just wait here."
"Alright."
Orion went outside the farmhouse they were in, if that is what you would call it. Outside you could hear the sounds of exploding fireballs and every now and then you could hear Orion's soft chanting. He must have been out there for at least an hour casting spells because Rockade had enough time to slightly recover from the hit he took in the head, when he woke up he was not the same as before.
"Are you alright Rockade?" said Rhothgar.
"What do you mean?"
"My name is Robert."
"I knew it was you before. Its me, Mike. Look at us. We have become what we were talking about before we went to sleep. I think that is Matt outside, but like you and I, he does not look the same, but he does sound a lot like Matt and he calls himself Orion. My name is apparently Rhothgar here and yours' is Rockade if you could not tell."
"Damn, we are, but how did we get here?"
"That is something I don't know."
Just then Orion burst through the door with a panicked look on his face.
"Rockade, its good that you are awake, I need your help."
"What?"
"I need your help, now get up and help me kill some ogres outside."
"But I don't know how."
"Not you too. Damn it, what the hell is going on with you people? I suppose I will be next. Wait I think I know what is wrong. First you got hit on the head, then you lost your memory. Well I guess that all I have to do is not get hit in the head," said Orion sarcastically.
"Then you better watch out." As the ogre approached Orion, it was thrown off of its feet and back out the way it came. After a second or two there was a big explosion. Pieces of the ogre flew everywhere; some were still twitching in the last throes of death.
"I did."
"How many are left?" said Rhothgar.
"A half-dozen. Should be nothing even if you two are clueless as to how to use your skills."
"I can try," said Rockade.
"Me too."
"Well then let's get out there," said Orion. The trio moved outside the building and there were about two dozen ogres, well parts of them mostly. It seemed that there could no possible way that any were left, but there was. They were standing about twenty yards directly in front of them. At first they did not make any move or even acknowledged that the three were there. When one looked over it let out a feral growl and the group charged.
Apparently Rockade was ready because he had his sword out in the blink of an
eye. Orion had been chanting the second they came out of the barn. Rhothgar did
nothing because he did not "remember" any of his spells.
The one that led the charge was the first to suffer from Orion's magic, the
thing caught a fireball right in the mouth, and it was dead instantly. Rockade
was slower to react. He froze and paid the price. As the axe hit his arm he
snapped back and so did his arm. The only way he knew to react was swing with
the other arm; he was lucky enough to take the thing's head off.
Rhothgar just stood back and watched as Orion took out three more with one fireball. And that left one. It decided to run away. Orion looked over to Rockade. Rockade seemed to understand because he took out a small axe from his belt and threw it as straight as he could. You could almost hear the axe whistling through the air as though it was happy to split a skull. It did. There was a loud crack as it slammed into the ogre's head. "Yeah! Ten points!" yelled Rockade.
Both Orion and Rhothgar looked at Rockade in puzzlement. That is what Robert always says. So we really are in another time, unless this is a very, very realistic dream. It has to be a dream. It has to. Oh well, might as well have fun while it lasts.
"So what do we do now?" said Rhothgar.
"Well I suppose I can start training you in magic, since you seem to have lost all of those abilities. I still don't understand it: how can both of you get hit on the head and then have no memory of who you are, or where you are for that matter?" said Orion.
"I don't think either of us knows Orion," said Rockade sarcastically.
"Actually I believe that we know who we were, in another time that is," said Rhothgar.
"Yeah but you probably would not believe us."
"Try me," said Orion.
"In our time my name was Mike, his was Robert. We believe that your name was Matt. As of where we are, I don't think that either of us has the slightest idea."
"Actually if you look around at this place it looks somewhat like the Rocky Mountains, just outside of Boise," said Rockade.
"What in the hell are those kind of names? Mike, Robert, Matt, Boise, and these mountains are called The Great Divide, the range stretches as far as the eye can see and much, much farther after that. I have yet to find the end," said Orion.
"Those are the names that people have in our time. Some have names like in this time but not very many. What is the year anyway?" said Rhothgar.
"Stupid. The year just turned to 100 Tajn. If you were wondering, the name Tajn comes from the Central Land's ruler: Loger Tajn. He is an elf and has ruled that land and almost all surrounding land, for one hundred years. Since he is an elf he will live for quite a long time. You should know that Rhothgar. You're a half-drow are you not?" said Orion.
"I guess I am. My body does feel different. For some reason I can feel the plants and animals around me. Its like I am connected to them. I also felt something when that ogre was running away. I could almost hear it pleading to me," said Rhothgar.
"That is because you are connected to them."
"But what does half-drow imply?"
"It implies that you are half dark elf and half surface or wood elf. That is why your skin is slightly darker. Your parents broke a very strict rule. Both types of elf have been at war for centuries, on one of the drows' attacks to the surface your mother fell for one of the elves in the raided party and she took him back to be her 'slave.' Turns out they fell in love. Bad thing about female drow is that they are the dominant ones in their society and after the baby was born she was killed for her treason. They had gone to get your father to kill him as well but he had somehow escaped, got to the surface and raised you for a few years and then he died. You had survived on your own since. One of my acquaintances found you and taught you magic. You were one of the best mages that I had ever seen in my life, and at such a young age too."
"Wait. So how old am I?"
"I think that you are about seventeen years of age. It is very uncanny for any person to have such proficiency with magic; even elves, at such an age. I think it has to be your mixed heritage."
"Could be."
"So what am I then?" said Rockade.
"You are a human," said Orion.
"Well I guess that I'm not so special after all."
"No not really. I am human as well so don't feel lonely. There is one good thing about you. You are a good fighter. Again one of the best that I have seen in my life."
"So how old am I?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, well now that we have been introduced somewhat, we can go. I want to relearn my skills. Besides, Rockade seems to have rediscovered his skills a little bit ago. But it probably does not take much to learn how to kill with your hands and weapons," said Rhothgar.
"Yeah we better start moving so we can be a half day's walk from my house by
nightfall," said Orion.
After nearly five hours of walking the trio sat down for lunch. They ate cheese
and bread with some ale to wash it down. After eating and a short rest the group
moved out and traveled until dark. The entire way they followed a river that ran
down the mountains, which now became hills.
"We stop here for the night," said Orion.
"How much further is your house?" said Rockade.
"We will have lunch at my house tomorrow, that is how much farther it is. We leave before dawn," said Orion.
"Why?"
"So we can be at our destination as soon as possible." Orion was becoming very agitated by Rockade's constant whining. That is all he seemed able to do during the entire day, except when they rested.
"So where exactly is our destination?" said Rhothgar.
"In a great valley not too far from where we are now. I have a large estate on a small hill at about the center of the valley. That way I can see everything that is coming or going from all around me. It has saved my life on more than one occasion."
He left it at that and the three newfound adventurers went to sleep. Although it was harder for Rockade and Rhothgar to fall asleep with the thought of their home not so far away. Yet, it was not their home for they were in another time completely. Both thought that they were in a dream together yet the dream had been too realistic up to this point. So it must be real.
As Matt walked towards his room he overheard Mike and Robert's conversation. He thought that they were stupid and did not have a life. But then they probably thought the same of him at times. No harm in that, everyone does it. So he made his way to his bed. As he lay there he began to wonder what it would be like to be a mage also. He thought he was being hypocritical because he had ridiculed Mike and Robert's talk and now he was thinking of the same thing, stupid. Well they won't know about this, so I guess it does not matter. They know I don't like that kind of crap. So why am I thinking about it? They must have gotten the better of my curiosity. Oh well, its not like they will mock me for it if they do not know. I better go to sleep this is getting me nowhere.
Matt was lying in his bed for another five minutes before he got the sudden urge to sleep. He had never felt so tired before. Just before he fell asleep he found himself thinking about being a mage again. But this time he felt different when he thought of it. It was as though he was actually somewhere else, another time even. He fell asleep feeling surreal. When he awoke he was not where he had fallen asleep.
David, Alan, and Peanut did not want to go to bed just yet so they decided to play a little game of ding-dong-ditch, an old past-time of theirs'. To do that they had to get on some clothes that would help them blend into their environment. So they got on some black clothes to match the night. Since there was no moon tonight that would make their chances of escape better if they were to get caught.
They had hit four houses before Alan got caught. He was not a very stealthy person so it was only natural that he was the one to be noticed. He was going up to the door of some house, about two blocks from where Matt lived, when all of a sudden a man flung the door open and grabbed Alan. Even though Alan was not very good at concealment he was good at fighting back. So that is precisely what he did. As the man began to pull Alan into his house, Alan swung around and hit the guy square in the face with his elbow. The man was bleeding instantly and probably in intense pain as well for he had fallen to his knees grasping at his face. Alan did not hesitate to leave when he had the chance.
The three friends stopped when they were almost back to Matt's house. They were out of breath and could not talk. Alan was the first to speak.
"Damn it. That guy almost had me," Alan breathed. He had always been one of those types of people that when you piss them off they really blow up. But he was also reclusive and not many people knew what he could really do, until they found out first hand. That man found out the hard way.
"Why do you do that kind of shit?" said Peanut in a harsh whisper.
"What?"
"Why do you just hit someone as hard as you can?"
"How the hell should I know? I don't know what I'm doing when I get scared or mad. I just reacted. Is that a problem with you?"
"Not really but what if that guy finds us out? What then?"
"I don't know."
"Enough of this," said David angrily. He was generally the silent one. But when he needed to, he spoke.
"Yeah you're right. It's stupid to argue over this kind of thing. Nothing will happen anyway, so why are we worrying?" queried Peanut.
"Let's go back to Matt's and get some sleep. Besides it's getting creepy out here and I feel like I haven't slept in a week," stated Alan. Everyone agreed on his last statement. For some reason they were very tired, and not from the running.
It was 1:30 A.M. by the time they reached Matt's house. They had walked slowly so that they can watch for any people that may be following them. They silently entered the house and went downstairs. They passed Robert and Mike on the way and the way they were sleeping was like they had been hit in the head and were unconscious. The trio just ignored it and went past them to Matt's brother's room. They talked about what happened for a few minutes. After that David and Peanut went upstairs to sleep. Alan stayed in the room and fell asleep on the floor. He dreamt about being an extraordinary fighter. But then the dream turned ugly.
Meanwhile David and Peanut talked about their ways to sneak around. Both were just plain good at it and they both thought that Alan got caught because he was too noisy when he walked. But they can't change anything now, they thought. Before they fell asleep they had agreed to tell everyone in the morning what had happened to Alan, of course Alan disagreed, but it was necessary, even if it hurt Alan's pride. After a few more minutes of discussion they went to sleep and dreamt about stealing things.
When he woke up next, he was not where he should have been. He was outside and it was dark. It was also around midnight, he could somehow sense it. He was lying on the ground and not much more than two yards away were two others. They were sleeping soundly. He had no idea what he should do. As far as he knew they could be killers and he was their next victim. But they were strangely familiar. He was unable to figure out how they were that way, but he knew it for a fact.
After a few hours of sitting there thinking, Matt decided that he should get up and walk away. As soon as he did that the big guy got up and rushed to his side. He thought he was done for.
"Where are you going?" asked Rockade.
"Nowhere," said Matt.
"Really? You have been sitting there for hours doing nothing. I don't trust
you."
Matt thought he had recognized the voice. It was Robert, but how could that be?
This man is fully one foot taller than Robert is and he has a body full of
muscles. How is it possible? The only way to find out the truth was to ask.
"Who are you? Who am I?" asked Matt.
"What are you talking about? I'm Rockade, don't you remember? Your name is Orion, is it not?"
"Well I guess. I must be dreaming. There is no way any of this can be real."
I knew it! Matt is here. Thought Robert. How did this happen? He must have come
around those few hours ago. I have to ask. "What is your name?"
"Matt uh I mean Orion."
"I knew it! Its really you! Its me Robert, can't you tell?"
"Yeah a little, but how is this possible? And who would that be over there?"
"I don't know how this is possible but we've been here for about two days. By we I mean Mike and I. We've been going to Orion's house. I guess we won't make it there by noon tomorrow. We will have to make it there somehow. We can't just sit here, it might take days for you or any of us to revert back to normal."
"You mean going back to my house normal?"
"Yeah, but see I don't think there is a way to go back. It seems impossible to even be here, yet we are. Mike has been here longer than I have and he doesn't have any clue how any of this works either."
"Well maybe we should try to get some sleep before dawn. We may be able to reach 'my house' by the original time Orion intended."
"Maybe. Yeah I suppose we should get some rest. Goodnight, don't let the carrion bite."
"Yeah, g'night."
They finished their conversation and fell asleep in minutes. They didn't realize that Mike had been listening to their entire conversation. He had somehow learned one of his spells, its like it was just floating around in his mind waiting to be used. He knew what it was. What it did. How long it would last. And how to control it. So he used it. He didn't even need to speak loud to cast the spell; all he had to do was whisper the incantation. When he cast the spell he didn't know if it would actually work, but it did.
He cast the spell to his exact position and moved away using his elven stealth. He also used his darker skin, unintentionally, as an agent in his sneaking. The spell was called project image, and it did as it implied. It put something that looked substantial in the place of something else.
Matt and Robert had their backs turned when he cast the spell, so that factor helped in his escape. Before he got very far he used another spell that seemed to just appear in his mind. This one was called silence. He cast it upon himself so that incase he made some noise it would not matter. He could literally scream in their ear and they would not hear him.
Mike made his way around to Matt's right and was about one yard from him and Matt still did not notice the strange shadow lurking so close to him. Mike picked up a rock about the size of his fist and threw it back to where his reflection was sleeping. Both Matt and Robert woke up with a start. They were staring intently in the copy's direction while Mike made his way behind Robert. He picked up a small pebble and flicked it at Robert's head.
What happened next was unexpected. Robert flung out his throwing axe and chucked it right at Mike. Both watched the axe fly through the air aimed directly at Mike. Mike watched as the axe flew directly at his chest. He did not know what to do and the axe was already to close to dodge, so he had no other choice but to wait to see what would happen. Another unexpected thing happened: the axe bounced off his robes and started right back at Robert. Robert, on the other hand, was prepared for this somehow. He caught the axe just before it hit him in the face. The trio just sat there staring at one another. No one spoke for several moments.
"What the fuck just happened?" asked Robert.
"What part?" said Mike.
"I can't hear you. And how can you be over there and in front of me at the same
time?"
Mike had completely forgot about his silence spell. He didn't know how to cancel
it, so he wrote on the ground near the fire that was still smoldering. I have
two spells going right now.
"How?"
I learned them somehow. You're going to have to wait until this silence spell
wears out.
They waited for about an hour until the spell wore off. By that time the sun was
about to make its debut and the three were almost falling over from lack of
sleep. Suddenly it sounded in his mind that the spell had worn off, so Mike
began to speak once again.
"So who's tired? I'm not."
"I am. You stupid piece of shit. Why the hell would you do something like that in the middle of the night?" yelled Robert.
"Calm down Robert, besides its almost morning," said Matt.
"I did it because I felt like testing a spell. Sorry if that pissed you off a little but if we are to go places I need to know how to use some of the spells in my repertoire."
"Well you could have picked a better time, dumb-ass."
"Sorry but I didn't. I felt like making the most I could out of it, I just did not expect to have an axe thrown at me."
"You deserved it, you startled me. If you do it again I will slit your throat myself."
"Yeah."
"I think we should just try to make it to Orion's house by noon today," began Matt, "we may not know the way there but following this river may get us near it at least."
"I guess so," agreed Mike.
"I'm tired of walking," complained Robert once again.
"Get over it," said Matt. He left it at that. Mike and Matt began walking, but Robert was a little slow in getting up. Eventually when they did not stop walking he got up and hurried over to them. They walked along the river for a few hours. They stopped when Matt remembered Mike's spells.
"So how did you replicate yourself?"
"It wasn't a replication, just an image of myself. I could made it move and talk too, but I didn't want to do that."
"Well why not?" said Robert.
"Because I would have given myself away if I did that." They tried to get more information out of him, but he wouldn't speak any more. The trio began walking again after a few minutes and found the valley within the hour. They stopped to take a rest and enjoy the view of their hometown, which was not a town, but an empty wasteland with no large estate in site. It was almost noon and they were about to lose hope because they didn't know where to go from there. Then Matt had a vision.
Following the trio from the barn was a mysterious shadow creature. Its curiosity
got the better of it about how two of the members' personality changes, it
wanted to find out if the other would make a change.
So it followed the group for hours. They stopped every once in a while, so did
the creature, just to observe. It could not believe how drastic a change the two
newcomers had been faced with; they were practically newborn children, yet they
had begun picking up on their potential very quickly. I had better watch these
three; they may be very dangerous enemies in the coming days. I just better
observe them a little while longer.
The creature continued to stalk the group from a distance, while at the same time observing their behavior towards one another. The halfling and the fighter seemed to know each other well, yet had no idea who the mage was. He had to find out how this could have happened to two powerful people.
The group had stopped for the night and the creature thought that this was his chance to get into their minds. He waited until they were asleep and began to creep over to the halfling. Suddenly the one named Orion got up to go somewhere and the fighter named Rockade got up as well. The creature sunk back into the shadows so as not to be seen. Orion seemed to have changed as well. Very interesting, I must know how this process works. Now the creature was very intrigued.
"Where the hell am I?" He had come to his senses in the middle of a barroom brawl. How he got there was a mystery, but apparently he had done quite a bit of damage because most of the men lying on the floor around him were slowly crawling away from him. He became very confused until something that felt like a bee sting, hit him in the shoulder. He turned around and saw a man at the far end of the tavern with a knife in his hand. He looked at the hit shoulder and there was a knife sticking out of it. He pulled the blade out without a flinch or grimace; eyes still locked on his assaulter. The other's face looked surprised even a little frightened, and he slowly began to walk away.
The half-orc warrior continued to stare at his attacker. Suddenly he threw the knife at the assassin. The knife screamed through the air and went hilt deep into the wood next to his unknown assailant. Now the man was truly terrified; he did not even see the knife until it was a finger's length from his head. He decided that he should take a little nap.
"Good job Metor," said a voice that was similar to Peanut's. He looked over to the speaker and it was a tall and fair figure. He didn't want to believe it but the being in front of him looked like an elf. He had only read about them, they were supposed to be made up characters, yet now one was standing just a few inches from him.
"Anyone home?" said the voice again it seemed so melodic.
"What?"
"What happened to you? You couldn't have lost that much blood from a little pinprick. Maybe you should go and get some rest, or have a drink."
"Who the hell are you? Who am I?"
"What is wrong with you? I don't know why I'm telling you this; my name is Danzig and I already told you what yours is. You sure you don't want to lie down?"
"I'm sure. I feel confused. I don't know this place or any of these people. Did I do all this damage?"
"You sure did my friend. Its not your fault though, some men wanted to have a little fun with you. Apparently they couldn't believe that a half-orc could be civilized nor have as much strength as I told them about. They learned the hard way, as you can clearly see."
He couldn't believe it. First he was thinking about being a warrior, now he is having a dream about being one. Its too much of a coincidence. This dream seems too realistic to be just a dream. He stood there staring mindlessly as he thought about the positive aspects of being an actual warrior. But what if I die in some heroic battle? What will happen to my real body? He was standing there for ten minutes before Danzig broke his train of thought.
"Hello. Is anyone home?"
"Yes I'm home, I was just thinking about something."
Alan was beginning to get very irritated with the way Danzig needed to ask so
many questions. I must do something to make this guy shut up. He looked to his
waist and found several items that could do the trick, he picked a throwing
knife. Danzig was still talking. After very little thought he decided to do the
right thing.
He unsheathed the blade and threw it in less than a blink of an eye. Somehow
Danzig saw it coming and barely avoided a deadly hit; he did not go without an
injury though. It seemed that he had entirely avoided the blade but about five
seconds later a long streak of blood ran down his neck.
"What in the nine hells was that for?"
"You wouldn't shut up," he stated flatly.
"You didn't have to try and kill me."
"I wasn't trying. If you don't want me to do it again then just shut up for a minute."
"Still you didn't have to go as far as taking my head off."
"If I was going to take your head off I would have used my axe. I knew it was likely that you would dodge the attack so I used the dagger. Just don't talk to me anymore tonight; I want to go to sleep. Just show me where the room is."
Danzig stood there pondering what Metor had said. It sunk in when Metor hit him in the shoulder. He led Metor to his room, did a short bow and left. Metor entered a room that was pitch black. The room lit up and he found a woman lying on the bed. He was so surprised that he almost flung his axe at her, he thought twice though. She seemed content and did not flinch when he started to throw the axe; she just sat there and stared, mesmerizing him with her eyes. Damn Danzig, he didn't tell me there would be a whore in here. Maybe that's why he had a smirk on his face. I'm no good with women though, maybe I should give it a shot, it won't hurt anything. He walked over and asked for her name.
"My name is Akirai. You must be Metor; glad to meet you."
"Why are you in here anyway?"
"You do not know? I am here to please you. To fulfil your every desire," she said in a charismatic way, a way that sent shivers down Alan's spine. He had never been alone in a room with a woman before, other than his mother.
"Who sent you? Was it Danzig?"
"No it wasn't him, in fact I wouldn't talk to that bastard even if I were to die and he was the only person who could help me," she said coldly. Her tone took a sudden change when she continued talking, "the tavern keeper has you down as one of his best guards, he thinks very highly of you. He wanted you to have a good time when you were off duty, that's why he sent me," she ended the thought with a very wide grin on her face.
"I guess I won't ask what happened between you and Danzig then."
"That's a good thing because I would have had to leave if you asked, and I don't want to leave," she said that last part in a seductive way.
"If you want to leave then that's fine, I'm just letting you know that I have never done something like this before."
"Now I find it very hard to believe that someone of your s," she was cut off as Metor made his way over and gave her a kiss. She was so shocked that she merely smiled and gestured for him to get on the bed. He did so with neither hesitation nor excitement, yet in is mind he was excited to the point of passing out.
As he walked down the hallway he began feeling faint. He looked around and realized that was nowhere near Matt's living room. He was however in the upstairs part of a hotel or something like it. He walked a little farther and realized that he was in a tavern, there were drunks everywhere. He walked downstairs and went towards the door; a slim figure approached him and asked where he was going.
"I need to go outside for some air."
"Alright," the voice sounded like David, yet this person looked nothing like the Peanut he knew. The man seemed to float away from him and into a dark corner where he stood watch like a sentinel. When he got outside, he nearly fainted. He was in another place and time. It has to be a dream. I just can't believe that this is Boise. Peanut walked around the town and saw all different types of creatures. After seeing what seemed to be a giant, he went back to the tavern in hopes of waking up.
He was just about there when a few men tried to come up behind him. They made the mistake of stepping in a small puddle. Peanut turned instantly and took the first man down with a dagger. Why the hell did I just do that? The other two came in fast with swords drawn. Naturally he reacted and had his sword out in an instant. His attackers' blades were nothing like his own. His had a dull red glow and it seemed to get brighter as the men got closer. He swung the sword before they got too close and they fell to pieces. Damn. I didn't even touch them and the blade cut them down. He sheathed his wondrous blade and walked a little faster towards the tavern. That mysterious figure was standing there waiting for him.
"Nice work Danzig. Though I thought you would have had them a little faster than that."
"You were watching?"
"Yes, I knew you would be walking around so I followed you, just in case something like that were to happen. Why did I follow you? Because you seemed different."
"Well I do feel different, but who are you?"
"Morrik, but why are you asking?"
"Because I don't know you."
"How can you not know me? Did Metor hit you in the head when you took him to his room?"
"No."
Suddenly Morrik started shaking violently. A few seconds later he seemed very different. Almost like another person.
"Are you alright?" Peanut asked.
"I think so, who are you?"
"Pea…Danzig."
"Peanut? How can that be you? You look nothing like yourself."
"I'm not really sure David."
The two friends continued to talk when all of a sudden they both felt an extreme
pain in their heads'. The world around them began to spin and everything went
black.
In other parts of the land everyone else had the same thing happen.
The next thing they found out was that they were back at Matt's house in the
same spots that they had fallen asleep in. Outside it was almost dawn; in
everyone's minds they wanted to sleep so they did just that.
Chapter 2
Rediscovered
Alan was the first to wake up that morning. He looked at his surroundings and realized that he was back to reality. There is no way that that woman was a dream, I have to tell someone. The first people he saw were Mike and Robert.
"Yo guys! Wake up! I had the best dream ever."
"Oh yeah?" said Robert sleepily.
"Yeah!" He told them what happened in his dream, and even went into excruciating detail about the whore.
"That's very strange, I had a dream too and it felt so real. You were in it too Robert," said Mike.
"What the hell is going on here? I had a dream too and you were in it too Mike, so was Matt near the end."
"Now this is some fucked up shit. Matt was in the dream towards the end of mine too." Mike and Robert talked about their dreams' similarities while Alan went upstairs to tell David and Peanut about his dream. He got upstairs and neither of them was there. He began to pick up the phone when they tapped on each of his shoulders. He turned around and nearly hit David in the face.
"What the hell are you guys doing?"
"I thought it would be funny to see your reaction," said Peanut.
"I am still tense about what happened last night, so don't fuck with my head."
"Well last night I think you took care of yourself pretty well," said David.
"In my dream or with that guy?"
"With that guy. You pretty much beat the living shit out of him with a few hits. Did you have a dream about hitting people or something?" asked David.
"Actually I did. But the two main guys in it sounded like you two." David and Peanut looked at each other in astonishment. "Then the one sounding like Peanut showed me to a room that had a woman in it." He went on telling more about the brawl then going into great detail about his encounter.
"Now how can something like that happen? Two guys in the dream that I had sounded like you and David."
"I had the same kind of dream too. How can something like this happen? I don't understand it," stated Peanut.
"Well its off the subject but we have to tell the other guys about your little scuffle with that guy last night. I know Matt won't be happy considering we sneaked out of his house and possibly led that guy here," said David matter-of-factly.
"Why do you have to tell them? We checked to make sure that bastard didn't follow us. Besides I doubt that he could have followed anyway."
"We need to tell them so that if someone comes around asking about it they can make up some kind of excuse," declared Peanut.
"Well fine." Alan left it at that. The three waited until everyone was upstairs to tell of Alan's little "incident." Of course Alan disagreed whole-heartedly, but he had no choice in the matter.
"Why the hell would you guys do something like that?" Matt nearly yelled. "If anyone comes around here asking about that shit I'm going to lead them straight to you guys. Got it?"
"Well damn, if we knew you would be this pissed off we might not have done anything," Peanut began, "then again we still may have went out just for the hell of it."
"We just thought it would be fun since none of us were tired," Alan added in.
"You just shut up. You're the one that beat the shit out of that guy." Matt
threw his hands up in frustration and walked out of the room mumbling to
himself. More than a few curses could be heard.
The rest of the guys just stood there each going through what could possibly
happen. After a few minutes they started to leave the house. They all remained
silent so as not to cause any more havoc.
I don't feel right. It feels like déjà vu. I know I've been here before. Mike thought. I swear I have. As he looked over the valley from his favorite spot it shot into his mind. This is where I was when my dream ended. My god! Its hardly changed. Other than the hill in the center of the valley its all the same. He sat there in disbelief for a while then decided to go talk to his girlfriend.
"Did you have a weird dream last night?" asked Mike.
"Like how?" Mike's girlfriend, Ally, questioned.
"Like something out of this world, Dungeons and Dragons like."
"No, I don't think so. Not like that anyway. The dream I had was me being in a dark cave or something, not the normal dark, but pitch black."
"In my dream I was told of a place like that. The guy told me I was born there but I was kicked out for being unpure."
"Who was the guy?"
"It was Matt surprisingly. Yet the Matt I know was not there, this was a man. He did not look the same but he sure acted and sounded the same. It was very strange because Robert was there too and he too sounded and acted the same but didn't have the slightest similarities in looks."
They talked for hours telling each other of their dreams and what their meanings could be. After trying out several different possibilities they came upon one: it could only be real in another dimension. Mike decides to take a walk around the neighborhood. It was a rather large one and he felt he needed the walk because during the entire conversation with his girlfriend he had this strange feeling that was similar to that of those ogres he saw brutally murdered by his friends. But he didn't know where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from Ally and everywhere else at once. He almost felt like screaming and running away but he couldn't do that. He had no idea of what he should do.
He was walking up to his doorstep when he had the urge to punch the wall. The feeling was so strong he nearly collapsed. Robert tried his best to stay standing but the effort was wasted, he fell to the ground like a rock. He lied there for what seemed an eternity before he got up and went to the door again. I need to go in and rest. He collapsed again, this time into the wall.
Suddenly everything went black but he could still feel his body moving, it was like another person inhabited him entirely. He was walking outside and down the street. His other side came upon a group of thugs and everything went black for a while.
When he came to he was in his front yard covered in blood. What the hell happened? Why am I covered in blood? Then he remembered the last thing he saw and was horrified: the group of people. My other side must have done some really bad shit to those guys. He needed to tell the others what he thought might have happened but decided to take a shower and change his clothes before he went anywhere. I'm not sure if I should trust the guys with this.
Later that day he was watching the tube and the news came on during his show: "We just got word that there has been a serious triple homicide in a local park. The reason for this act is still unknown but we do know that whoever it was used his bare hands and they were murdered late last night…" he sat in astonishment as they told where the bodies were found, what was left anyway. What the hell did I do last night?
Alan went out the back door of Matt's house.
Peanut got in his car to drive home from Matt's place when he got the feeling that something bad was about to happen; he was right. About ten seconds later a rock came through his windshield and almost hit him in the head. But he was quicker than that: right before a second projectile hit he jumped out of his car. His only instinct was to attack. So he took out his Gameworld cards and started to throw one in the direction that the rocks came from when he found Alan standing there.
Alan, at least it looked like him, began to pick up another rock when Peanut sent a card flying directly into his sternum. The look-alike barley registered the hit so Peanut threw ten more into his chest and stomach regions. The imposter had no time to react to any of this and so he just walked away with a few cards protruding from his body, seemingly unhurt, as Peanut just stood there wondering why he had reacted like this especially with such accuracy. He went over to pick up his cards and then drove home, wondering.
Matt watched as everyone left. When he was alone he had an urge to eat a lot of food. He went to the kitchen and fixed three sandwiches, a bowl of noodles, and two pizzas. He felt a little satisfied when he was done but he had another urge. This one was different but he could not figure out what it was exactly. I swear this is an urge for blood, but why? I need to… his thoughts were interrupted as he went into a sudden series of spasms.
The seconds seemed to last for hours while he endured the excruciating pain of
the transformation. What's happening to me? When it was finally over he felt
light and free. The thirst for blood was intense. What is this hunger for? He
began to move yet he had no control over his actions. What's happening?
I know this feeling; this is what I felt when I was about to use my magic. This
is the invisibility spell. But how can I be doing this? He became clear then,
not even he could see his hands but he continued to walk in no particular
direction, still unable to control his body. He rounded a corner and found a
bunch of boys around his age. They seemed to sense that there was something
coming because one of them pointed in his direction and was looking frantic.
He came out of his invisibility then, just before the pack of six. They were startled and he seemed to enjoy that. I can feel another spell forming but what is it? Then things began to get darker and within a few seconds he fell into unconsciousness.
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